The Awakening

Chapter Forty Seven

Lugh studied her, his face set into a grim expression and his mouth pressed into a hard line. His posture was rigid, but his eyes flickered with something unreadable. "There's something wrong here..."

The door to the room clicked open, cutting Lugh's words short. Avelon strained her eyes, trying to see who dared to interrupt them, but the darkness flooding the room told her all she needed to know. The way the shadows shifted around them, heavy with intent, made her skin crawl.

Perhaps it was the fact that Avelon could not fully see her face, but Elha stood her left, her expression unreadable. She did not move or blink. She wore the expression of a carefully sculpted mask.

"My son..." Balor drawled, his voice dripping with pure malice. Avelon could almost hear the cruel smile in his words. As he rounded the table and clasped Lugh's shoulder, Avelon could tell he was impressed that Lugh had managed to get her into the experiment room and perform the experiment himself. He had earned his father's approval.

"Father, good to see you. The experiment went well, though I suspect I might have given too much of myself." Lugh swallowed hard, but a smile of pure pride stretched across his lips. His eyes shone with ambition which gleamed in the dim light. The darkness within them reflecting something else.

Her mouth twisted into a sneer of disgust. What the hell had she seen in Lugh?

Balor nodded, squeezing his shoulder with a force that could break bone. Her eyes, though still fixed on Lugh, darted down to where Balor's stray shadows snaked toward her. The tendrils brushed over her feet like they were seeking permission to strike.

"Elha, you should assist Avelon in getting back to her chambers. Lugh and I have matters to discuss. In private." The casual dismissal of Avelon's presence caught her off guard. She was ready for more torture—she always was—but not this sudden, almost lazily dismissive treatment.

Avelon hissed as his shadows nicked at her calf., the dark tendrils slicing through her skin- reminding her of his control. He liked to play and prolong suffering in any way he could. She did not look at Balor- did not offer him the satisfaction, but she could feel the gaze of his cruel, ever-watching eyes on her. Why had he dismissed her so easily now? What had changed?

"Yes, sir." Elha mumbled in quick response, snapping Avelon's attention toward her as she gathered some items without hesitation.

She allowed herself to look at Balor then, as quickly as she could, though the weight of them on her nearly crusher her. His eyes travelled over her like a predator sizing up its prey. The endearment they held was not one of love—it was ownership. She was his prized possession. Pride lined his features as he watched her.

Bile rose in her throat as his eyes continued to rake over her.

He knew. He knew. Avelon's heart skipped a beat. He had to know.

She did not understand how or why, but she could feel it—he knew. He had to have figured it out by the way she had not succumbed to any of the experiments. The dark gleam in his eyes spoke volumes. He knew she was Daghlan, and that terrified her more than anything. The shadows that wrapped around her skin were no longer subtle. They caressed her with a sickening tenderness, like a lover's touch. Avelon swallowed the gag that threatened to escape.

She needed to get Fallon and get out. If Balor knew, which she suspected, then it was only a matter of time before he drained her. Perhaps that was why he needed to speak to Lugh. They would end her, and soon.

Elha disappeared into the darkness for a moment, returning with a guard. The man's face was obscured by a scarf and his hands were hidden beneath gloved fingers. With barely any effort, he slipped one arm behind her back and the other beneath her legs, lifting her as if she were weightless.